Reminiscing Over the Future
by Lucky Th13rteen
Summary: How did the fiery witch and the icy wizard end up friends? More importantly, when did they fall in love when their lives and personalities were so seemingly different?


**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the content and material of Harry Potter. I only hope to convey my writing skills as best I can to portray my love for the pairing of Draco and Ginny. **

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**Reminiscing Over the Future**

She was not sure when exactly it had happened, sometime after they had both left Hogwarts but before the public became fully aware of their relationship, and she was sure that it was still too improbable to be true but somewhere over the years Ginny Weasley had developed a friendship of sorts with Draco Malfoy. He was still arrogant and chauvinistic, his characteristic smirk always in place, but the redheaded witch knew the spark in his silver eyes held more mischief than malice and his casual scoffs were meant to be playful rather than condescending.

It had started off simple enough - they were both attending the annual International League Quidditch Cup end of season bash and both were left unattended after several drinks, neither of them were known for being able to hold their alcohol, and had wandered to the bar to grab another. Their shoulders brushed lightly enough that they turned at the same instant to apologize when bleary recognition lit their faces. Draco's mild inebriation disregarded the years of hatred he had shown her as his left hand reached out to brace her upper arm, a feral grin turning up his lips as he leaned forward to place his lips next to her ear as he spoke over the booming music of the party. Ginny had almost pulled back when he had touched her but she was beyond her limit of caring to think of their past once his lofty aroma of manliness surrounded her and his voice sounded like velvet as she suppressed a shiver and goose bumps. She looked good, he had said and promptly asked to buy her a drink - for old times sake. Ginny agreed but boldly warned him that no strings were attached to said drink and she was only accepting because he had offered. Draco had smirked and it was if time had never passed and they were still at Hogwarts, the evil Slytherin cornering the most courageous Gryffindor of all. He had thrown his hands up in his own defense, declaring that he only wanted to give her a drink and leaned backwards to give her ample space between their heated bodies.

Since there were no chairs against the bar they were forced to turn around and lean against the counter top, facing the makeshift dance floor that was packed with Quidditch players and their guests. Draco lazily commented on a bypassing witch wearing a ridiculous outfit and Ginny slyly grinned as she sought out someone with a worse choice of clothing, pointing out the wizard in the green striped pants, orange checkered shirt and bright blue jacket, a tribute to his losing team. And so began the rest of their night, Draco and Ginny stayed at the bar for the remainder of the evening, mocking the other party goers from afar as they sipped their way through a string of cocktails. By the time the lights were turned off and the music was muted, the pair of them were in stitches as they drunkenly regaled hilarious tid bits of memories from their years at school, both laughing freely at tales of their enemies acting stupid and neither holding back with juicy stories of their closest friends and family.

When it was time to leave they giggled like school children as they clutched at each other and stumbled down a familiar alley, laughing all the while as Ginny repeated an animal noise that Hermione used to make when she would laugh too hard, the habit long since worked out of her system. When they reached the Leaky Cauldron the bar was empty and Tom looked up expectantly but jerked his hand towards the Floo grate as the only indication that he was not serving them any more. Draco ushered Ginny into the grate first, genuinely remarking that he had enjoyed her company and finishing with telling her that maybe she wasn't so bad after all. She was about to protest, a lot had changed in the five years since he had left Hogwarts - she had changed, when he tossed a handful of glittering green powder to her feet, prompting Ginny to hurriedly slur her destination as Draco twirled out of sight with a mischievous smirk in place.

She awoke the next morning wondering if she had dreamed her night with Draco - or if it had, just possibly, actually happened. Since it was the off season Ginny did not have a strict training schedule and had taken to visiting the Burrow for several hours a few times a week. Molly Weasley was always thrilled to have her only daughter at home but Ginny was relieved to know she had her own apartment to go to once she left. It was not long before the staggering days of endless boredom and no Quidditch practices or required workouts drew the spirit from her and she decided to visit a pub to take her mind off things. She and Harry had been dating on and off for a handful of years but each time they broke up it was because he could not completely commit. They were in an off period and without the structure of Quidditch to occupy her mind, Ginny was left with little else but to twiddle her thumbs and watch the sun cross the sky. She thought about staying in the Leaky Cauldron but there was too strong a chance of her running into someone she knew so Ginny steered clear of the bar as soon as she came through the Floo. There was another pub close by and as she meandered down the cobblestone paths in search of the bar, she paused when she noticed a flickering gas lamp next to a shadowed door right next to the mouth of Knockturn Alley. Twisting her head to peer into the dingy windows she saw that it was a dark lounge and never one to turn down a challenge, Ginny strode up to the wooden door and pulled it open to easily glide into the pub, which she had seen was called the Hog's Breath, glancing around before approaching the bar top on the far side of the dim room. There was a seconds pause where she eagerly watched the dirty bartender, attempting to get the wizard's attention, and then Ginny was startled by an arm pushing against her elbow, rotating to glare at the patron when she saw who it was.

"Well look who it is," Draco drawled calmly, his mercury eyes full of amusement and his platinum locks tossed back just so, as he brought his short glass of brown liquor up to his lips and took a healthy gulp, a smile pulling across the rim of the cup. "We really shouldn't keep meeting like this," he had said goadingly and he still remembered the shocked surprise on Ginny's freckled face when she suddenly realized they had hung out, to some extent, at the Quidditch party. Again he offered to buy her a drink but this time she stipulated that they sit down and Draco quickly found them a small table with a clear view of the front door but that was still somewhat secluded in the shadows.

They talked for hours, their drinks disappearing at a slower rate this night as they found out they had more in common than either would have ever thought. Besides their shared passion for Quidditch, they were both avid supporters of the new Ministry regime and its lax policies and both secret lovers of food and cooking. Ginny found a new appreciation for the blonde wizard that night and Draco respected her as more than a beautiful witch who had grown into her own without the all of the world noticing. After that they met regularly for drinks and before long it became dinner as well. Then random trips to the theater or to the private pitch at Malfoy Manor for competitive spouts of flying and pickup matches between the two. Their friendship blossomed neatly but it had barely been a month into the new relationship that Draco came to the conclusion that he wanted more. Ginny was absolutely perfect for him but there was not much chance that she felt the same way, not when she was still blabbering on about Potter and how he refused to love her the way she wanted him to.

Once they were seen by photographers, after all Draco was technically the most eligible bachelor in Wizarding Britain, the press went crazy with rumors of the ancient family feud finally ended and scorn erupted for their different upbringings affecting how she was using him for his money and so on. There was little else that they could do but ignore the media and not even a week later a huge story broke on the breakup of a famous international couple who were constantly in the tabloids for their numerous adopted children and strange Muggle and Wizarding combination lifestyle. Draco and Ginny were left to live their lives in peace, although they now had the scrutiny of both families as to why they would even consider befriending the other. The endless antagonism did not cease as the months passed and became a year, then two and the blonde wizard and the fiery witch continued a constant friendship, both enjoying the others company while still bickering constantly about anything and everything under the sun. They were there for each other when things were tough and like all friends they even drifted apart for a few short weeks until Draco finally understood that he had, dare he say, fallen in love with the Weaslette. But he held the greater expanse of emotions within his chest, never divulging his secret and always acting indifferent when she asked his advice with dating. It was a pattern that suited them just fine and Draco would not have traded it for the world.

As of late though, all he had been able to think about was the past. He was not ashamed of the man he had become, in fact he felt stronger for accomplishing the many great and horrible things that he had, but there was something so alluring about his past that it seemed shrouded in a glittery mist and surrounded by easy happiness. Those memories brought forth his more recent collections containing his time with Ginny and although it wasn't possible, he wished he would have found her kindred soul when he was at Hogwarts. Things would have turned out so differently for him and Draco could almost taste the exuberance that always accompanied his longing thoughts of Ginny.

As if she had known what he was thinking, the trim and curvy redhead yanked open the glass door and stepped onto the wide balcony that overlooked the Thames River, shutting the panel behind her as a whirl of warm air spun out from inside his penthouse apartment. About a year ago Narcissa and Lucius had forbade Draco from having Ginny over at the Manor while he was still living there. Many things had changed but their attitudes were still as bitter and resentful as ever. She told him that it was not a big deal, she did have your own home, but Draco was quick to purchase his own living space, claiming that he wanted to find his own footing in the world and their hatred for his dear friend had merely made up his mind. Of course Ginny accompanied Draco on many trips throughout London to find the perfect flat until she walked into the large penthouse with the remarkable view and was sold on the place the instant she saw the long balcony that wrapped around the corner of the second floor of the unit. She loved the place as much as he did and it was his harmless intent for her to take the reigns with decorating the space, what did men know about interior design anyways, so she would think of his home as comforting.

It was on clear, chilly nights like this that they spent countless hours on the balcony, sitting bundled up under the starry sky until their noses turned red and their teeth were chattering. As Ginny took the wool blanket off the back of her customary chair, she wrapped it around her shoulders and carefully held the edges together as she plopped down onto the wide cushion and tucked her legs underneath her. Draco saw her look to him with a pleasant smile but his left hand fidgeted with a white lighter as he grappled for a cigarette from the small, boxy pack. Placing the soft filter between his lips he raised the lighter and flicked the end, bringing a small flame to life as he held it to the end of his tobacco stick and inhaled rapidly. The minty smoke rushed into his lungs and he kept his lips parted as he held the mist in his mouth, his tongue gently lapping at the heavy thickness before his throat pushed the smoke out in a thin stream.

"You're awfully quiet tonight," Ginny remarked and he briefly stared at her without completely turning his blonde head, tilting his neck back to gaze at the inky black sky and bringing the burning cigarette to his mouth once more.

"Do you ever wish you could go back and do it all over again?" He asked a moment later, Ginny's attention flitting across the open landscape as she listened intently and waited for him to go on and explain what he was talking about. "You know - go back to Hogwarts, knowing what you do now, and do it all over again. Be who you are now, then."

She would admit to having thought about it but Ginny had to hesitate, not sure if she should share her honest opinion because of how horrible her words would make her sound. "I don't think that school could handle me if I was as I am now back then. I was a firecracker and surely those Professors would loathe me even more now," she mused with the trace of a smirk and Draco inhaled another drag as he mulled over her words.

"Everything was just so - easy back then," Draco pondered aloud, comfortable with rambling out his thoughts in front of Ginny as he knew she could be the best sounding board at times. "All we had to worry about were tests and essays. No bills to pay, no parents harping in your ear over whether you'll ever get married - no stress at all."

"Hmm," Ginny replied, a frown turning down her lips as she implied from his words that he was immaturely tired of being a responsible adult. He had a valid point but she could never give up her freedom and independence, never mind the respect she had garnered from so many people since she had eclipsed her teenage years, not now that she knew what life was like outside the Burrow.

"I would be an absolute demon on the Quidditch pitch," Draco stated randomly, his silver eyes distant as his arm repeatedly brought the cigarette to his lips and he inhaled, then exhaled as his breath mingled with the thin smoke. "No one would be able to stop me. Potter wouldn't stand a chance. We would have won the Cup every year. I would make so many different decisions, pick better friends," he finished and Ginny grinned foolishly, giggling lightly, the sound like a beautiful orchestra of little bells.

"You mean you would voluntarily have been friends with _me_ if you knew then that we would become - like this?" She gestured to the pair of them, acting civil, and her auburn eyebrows rose comically.

"Of course," Draco replied with all seriousness. "You are my best friend, Gin. If I had known that then - we could have raised hell at Hogwarts." His thick lips grinned around the butt of the cigarette as he took one last, long drag and flicked the end over the edge of the balcony. His blonde hair swayed around his shoulders once he glanced sideways to stare at her, the grin expanding as he saw her raise one brow higher than the other but smirked flirtatiously.

"You mean the great Prince of Slytherin would have been friends with the dirty little Weasley?" Ginny mock scowled but the mirth remained in her chocolate eyes as she held them wide and batted her dark eyelashes in an innocent fashion.

Draco rolled his silver orbs, shaking his platinum locks sadly as he focused his gaze on the brightest star just over their heads and spoke solemnly. "You're important to me, Ginny, and I don't know why you won't accept that. We've been friends for a while now and I _do _care about you. I know Potter doesn't know how to treat a woman and your pack of brothers are probably ignorant as well, but _me - I_ know how to respect a witch and that does not just mean my mother." Since she had not said anything he briefly glanced to his left but paused the forward rotation of his head when he saw her stiffly staring at him, her chest completely motionless as her pink lips scantily parted and Draco drew in his own deep breath, followed by Ginny repeating his action as if it were now okay to inhale, before he nervously dropped his gaze and rapidly returned it with a strong determination to say what he had wanted to for too long. "I love you, Gin - you balance me and I guess I just wish I had realized that back then instead of taunting you all of those years."

Any air that was left creeping in her lungs was withdrawn as she silently gasped and she would not have questioned his words had he not spoken them with so much depth and honesty.

"You. . . you - you love me?" Ginny stumbled and she knew the grin and warmth to his mercury eyes that instantly transformed his handsome face was a look meant just for her.

Draco wasn't sure what compelled him to do it, he _was _somewhat anxious with fluttering nerves after her reaction, but he pressed his palms onto the arms of his chair and pushed himself up to stand, taking several steps before pausing in front of Ginny as he offered her his hands to stand as well. The bottom dropped out of her stomach and she swore her heart skipped a beat then jumped double time in her chest as she hesitantly placed her smaller hands in his open palms and his long, warm fingers wrapped around her smaller digits and he gently pulled at her arms until she stood in the short space in front of him. Their irregular breaths were mingled and Draco grinned lopsidedly as he felt her body just inches from his own. Her brown orbs were widened a fraction in fright and his grin softened into a smile as his fingers squeezed her grasp.

"Yes - I, Draco Malfoy, love you, Ginevra Weasley." He noticed her sharp intake of breath, feeling her pull away slightly as a slew of emotions passed through her deep gaze. He could see her process his words quickly but her brows creased as she was surely thinking of Harry and what this meant for the Boy Who Lived and her longstanding relationship with that idiot. "As a friend - as a confidant - as a person. I love _you,"_ he added to clarify but Ginny only inhaled fiercely again as if he had only confused her more.

"But - what about all those witches you dated - that you have slept with? And. . . and Harry? What about him?" She mumbled and Draco wanted to ring her neck in frustration that she still was not listening to what he was saying.

"They weren't you, they didn't - matter," he restated and he mentally implored her to understand what he was implying, hoping to lighten the mood to loosen her up a bit. "I had thought you would come around to my devilishly good looks and charming personality ages ago. But now - I'm tired of waiting. Potter has nothing on me," Draco's vocal tone dropped and he leaned forward, his hands palming the roundness of her curvy hips as his neck bent so their lips were a hair's breadth away and their gazes were intimately locked in the short distance. "And I will do whatever I can to prove that to you," he finished and then hesitated, watching her pupils dilate and feeling her faint breath across the light stubble on his chin, before his mouth crossed the scant space and pressed against her soft lips.

Ginny released a sigh she did not realize she had been holding in as her eyes shut and she cautiously began moving her mouth with his gentle kisses. Draco felt her body relax and his hands snaked around her back to draw her closer as the curves of her hourglass figure fit the plans of his muscled form near perfectly. There was a familiarity about his mouth that Ginny couldn't put her finger on but she knew this spark, this all-encompassing connection she felt with him was what had been missing from her relationship with Harry. The dark haired wizard had always fumbled with the workings of her clothing, rapidly pursuing sex until she became restless with the same, prude foreplay and positions. Draco - he held more finesse in his pinky finger than Harry would ever have in his entire life. Ginny admired that in the blonde as he trailed his eager lips over her jawline to nip at the tender skin of her neck, his mouth hovering over her erratic pulse as he smirked at her sudden anticipation.

"Why now?" She asked, her fiery head tilted backwards as her fingers wove through the silky locks at the base of his skull and she shivered under the cool night sky and the tantalizing bites he was placing on her neck. "Why have you waited so long to tell me?"

"Because -" Draco whispered between nips, his blonde head drawn to her freckled skin like a beacon in the night. "I want you to trust me. And the only way you will do that -" he pulled back just enough for their gazes to meet as Ginny stared speechlessly and waited to hear his eloquent voice again. " - is if you love me as much as I love you. So you might as well get used to me getting up in your face," he added jokingly, his silver eyes dropping to glance at her plump lips for a second too long before his gaze became sexily serious and the faintest corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk. "I'm not going anywhere - for a long time, Gin," Draco stated and his lips were again pressed against her own as he held her tightly and prayed this moment would never end.

"I love you too," Ginny whispered in the quick rushing of an inhale, her lips slanting to devour his mouth with a passion that had been silently mounting without her realizing that her struggle with anxiety around him was rooted in a secret desire to gain his attraction and Draco decided he could get used to the acrid, smoky taste of his cigarette on her lips. "I think I always have," she muttered through another breath and Draco nearly growled he groaned so deeply, his hands now freely roaming to cup the firmness of her ass as his shoulders dipped slightly and he bent her so that their mouths remained attached while his palms slid under her knees and Ginny, understanding the reasoning for his movements, bounced lightly and he picked her up with that momentum.

Her weight adjusted against his flat stomach, her legs wrapping around his waist easily, and Ginny pressed her chest against his torso tightly as her arms held a death grip around his neck while Draco began slowly walking and their mouths continued to be tangled together. He knew there was no changing the past but he was grateful that his mistakes and poor choices had led him to this point where he could find love and happiness with his beautiful redheaded witch. Their history had been tumultuous but through all of the grief, heartache, and pain, their friendship had blossomed and now their love would continue until the end of time. Draco would not alter one thing about his past because ultimately, it had developed into his future with Ginny.

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**A/N: **Thank you for reading! This was just a little blurp that came to me through a conversation with an old friend and of course, being a consistent writer, I took the situation and made it into a story. Leave me a review because I can see some possibilities for a further storyline, once I finish 'Lucky in Fate', if I get enough feedback wanting more.


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